Bouaddi glimpse, Ait-Nouri, McAidoo repeat – Man City moments missed at Palace

A look at some of the Manchester City talking points from Selhurst Park after Enzo Maresca’s team romped to a big win

Rayan Cherki was the star of the show as Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 4-1 at Selhurst Park on Friday night. The Frenchman bagged two goals in the second half to complement his two assists against Bournemouth and continue his fine start to the season.

Erling Haaland was also up and running with two very different goals scored before and after Cherki’s double, while Phil Foden picked up two assists in the game as well as Enzo Maresca’s side hit the top of the Premier League. There are still issues for the squad to work on and more players need to be brought in before the transfer window closes, but there were plenty of positives for the thousands of fans who had made the journey to South London.

There was also more going on in and around the game for Blues to notice. Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi came on for his debut while two academy players came on in the final minutes of the match.

Here is a look at some of the moments at Selhurst Park that may have been missed.

Bouaddi gets fans excited

Ayyoub Bouaddi wasn’t seen on the pitch for long, arriving for the final ten minutes of the match with the game already won. However, the lanky teenager showed enough to excite supporters anxious to see what £81m has earned City this summer.

Bouaddi spent most of his time sat in front of the defence, shielding them from any Palace threats and mopping up everything that came his way. However, when he did get on the ball he played a beautiful pass through the lines for Antoine Semenyo to race onto in injury time.

The Ghana international was understandably tired and his cross for Haaland was cut out in the box, but it was a pass that would have had people purring if Rodri had played it. The Spaniard leaves large shoes to fill, but Bouaddi suggested he can have a big impact.

Ait-Nouri in and out

Rayan Ait-Nouri spoke of his excitement for the new season when he was on the summer tour but has not had much reason to cheer in the opening weeks. Benched as soon as Nico O’Reilly returned from his holiday and watching Josko Gvardiol play at left-back, Ait-Nouri was left on the bench at Selhurst Park while youngster Kaden Braithwaite was brought on instead to make his Premier League debut.

That had to sting, and raises late questions about his place in the squad, but after the game finished the Algerian headed out onto the pitch with the rest of the substitutes to do some shuttle runs. It may not have been the time on the grass that he wanted, yet Ait-Nouri was still putting in the effort.

McAidoo repeat

This was the first time Ryan McAidoo had been in a City squad since the first friendly of the summer tour. In 45 minutes against Inter in Hong Kong, he teased the defence again and again and went agonisingly close to scoring but saw a shot come back off the post.

A shoulder injury has prevented any involvement since but his early work was enough for him to earn his place in Maresca’s squad for the season and against Palace he showed why. Picking the ball up on the right wing in the final minutes of the game, he used his pace to beat one man before cutting inside and firing at goal on his favoured left foot.

Dean Henderson would have been helpless if it had arrowed into the far corner but instead it went just the other side of the post to leave McAidoo waiting for another senior goal. If he keeps creating the opportunities, the next one can’t be far away.